For thousands of Indians chasing the American dream, the EB-5 investor visa has quietly become the new golden bridge, bypassing endless visa backlogs.
India has already been witnessing a steady surge in citizens pursuing US permanent residency. Government data shows that 2.25 lakh Indians renounced citizenship in 2022, with 78,284 choosing the United States, followed by Australia, Canada, and the UK.
Over the past two years, the US government renewed the program last year, and immigration firms call it “one of the fastest and most reliable” green-card options for Indians.
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But this November, the program saw an unexpected twist, one that has actually made the route more affordable overnight.
What the US Federal Court decided and why it matters
A US district court in Colorado halted the steep fee hikes that USCIS had introduced under the 2024 Fee Rule.
The ruling, delivered on November 12, 2025, said that the Department of Homeland Security had no authority to raise EB-5 fees without conducting a mandatory fee study, as required by the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act (RIA).
“The court determined that the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 did not grant the Department of Homeland Security the authority to modify the fees associated with the EB-5 visa program in the manner prescribed by the new rule,” the order noted.
What fees look like now (back to pre-2024 rates)
Form I-526 / I-526E (initial EB-5 petition)
Reduced from $11,160 → $3,675
Form I-829 (to remove conditions on residency)
Reduced from $9,525 → $3,750
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Why Indian professionals should pay attention
The EB-5 pathway is already becoming a favourite among Indian H-1B workers, high-net-worth individuals, and families seeking faster green card processing.
Between April 2022 and January 2025, a total of 9,878 EB-5 petitions were filed. Of these, 1,790 petitions, 18%, came from India, as per AIIA data obtained under FOIA.
However, China still leads, filing more than half of all global petitions.
